Its been a while, but I just picked up my newest N frame. A 25-2 in .45 Colt. This has been one of my dream guns. I've waited and looked for it for a long time. Last week the LGS got it in, this week my bonus from work came through.





The barrel is marked .45 Cal model 1950.



What do you guys think?

I think you'll find that's a .45 ACP / .45 Auto Rim, not a .45 Colt...

I also see that your 25-2 is one of those that escaped the factory with the 1950 (not 1955) barrel rollmark.

I like the 1955's in .45 ACP.. they seem to shoot well for me. For years I've been tempted to cut one of mine down to 4", but just can't quite bring myself to do it...

It's a .45 Colt. I have a model 1955 target model and 625 in .45 ACP.

Should be easy enough to tell what caliber it is.
It looks really nice. Congrats on that one.

Looks good!

I like mine , but it's a CTG!

There were a few 25-2's that came out with both cylinders, or I believe you could have used a cylinder from a 25-3. Those Colt cylinders were shorter than what was used on the 25-5.
Here is a 25-2 in 45 Colt

The owner of the gun store I got it from is also a S&W collector. Once in awhile he sells off one of his revolvers. I suspect this is where this one came from. He was not there today, but the tag stated the gun was lettered. His helper has no idea where the letter was kept. I'll get a hold of the owner Monday. According to Supica there were a few model 25's made prior to 1977 in .45 Colt. The owner is both knowledgeable and an up front guy. I've dealt with him for many years. I'm sure the gun is correct and the letter will support this. I'll post it when I get it.

Do you not have any .45 Colt ammo to see if it chambers? The barrel on your gun is clearly not the usual Patridge sight found on pre-26s or 25-2s. The 45 Cal of 1950 barrel should be a pencil-style but yours seems to be the heavy barrel of the Model of 1955.

I am very curious to see what the factory letter says.

__________________
Bob.
SWCA 1821

Looks like an awful lot of air behind that cylinder for a .45 Colt... still, nice gun.

I like mine too. Here's a big pile of some of them... This is a mixture of real 1950's and 1955's.



The 1950 barrel is lighter and tapered.





The 1955's are heavy and nearly straight.



There were a few 1955 guns (such as yours) that were shipped with incorrect barrel markings. Later .45 1955's (AKA 25-2's) were made in 6" barrels. Previous to that they were 6 1/2".

Drew

It chambers .45 Colt ammo. According to Supicia somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 model 25's left the factory mismarked as mine is.

There does appear to be a lot of air behind the cylinder. I wonder if it has acceptable airspace. Feeler gauges are handy and cheap.

It's deja-vu all over again! I just replied to your GT thread.

OK guys, I've done some playing around with the gun. I does accept .45 Colt ammo as I stated before. It also accepts both .45 ACP loaded on moon clips and .45 auto rim ammo without binding. Inside the charge holes there is no ring for the ACP to headspace on. The length of the cylinder is 1.53, the same as my 625 and 1955 target model.

I'm thinking like the cylinder was reamed out to accept .45 Colt. Also, Supicia lists the length of the .45 ACP cylinder as 1.53 as I confirmed. He lists the .45 Colt cylinder at 1.67". A difference of .14". I measured a moon clip at .04". So, for a .45 Colt cylinder to have been used on this gun, the forcing cone would have to be in the neighborhood of .1" shorter than what it is.

The gun does have a 6.5" barrel. I have the original box and it says 6.5" BBL, target stocks, trigger and hammer. It makes no mention of the red ramp, white outline sights. I'm going to have to see the letter. Hopefully all this matches. Then maybe all I'll need is a cylinder that was not tampered with to make the gun right.

I think you have it pegged correctly now.

It's a nice looking gun.

Yeah, I took a bore light to the cylinder. It's clearly been reamed out. I'll be taking it back Monday. I guess we'll see how upfront the owner of the shop is. Such a shame someone did this to this gun. Disappointed...

I may blind, but I don't see a front locking bolt or the retention pin. It may also be the lighting in the photo. You may want look at that while you are at it.

When my 25-2 was new, I had S&W Service install a red ramp & smooth DA trigger. I qualified with the gun for several years. My 25-2 clearly has a ledge & when we were lazy, we'd fire ACP rounds with no clips & just flip the empties out with a fingernail.


Back before S&W made the 25 in 45 Colt smiths converted spare cylinders (often Highway patrolman cylinders) & fitted them though one had to be careful of the bullet length.

OK guys, the gun went back today. I showed him all the faults as per my previous post, he was disappointed too. He asked me if I wanted it as a shooter or collectible. I said I was looking at the collectible aspect. He offered me a full refund. Instead, I snagged up a scarce Ruger Redhawk chambered in .357 magnum, a Browning BPS 10 gauge and 6 cans of powder. The balance went towards a layaway that my daughter has there. I've dealt with him off and on over the years and I'm very pleased with the outcome. He'll be getting more of my business.

I want to thank all of you guys for you brutal honesty. It was a bitter pill to swallow at the time. But you saved me a lot of grief in the end. The sights were not correct, the front locking bolt, spring and pin were indeed missing and the .45 ACP cylinder had been reamed out to accept .45 Colt. In my opinion the excessive headspace was dangerous, I probably would not had noticed until it was too late. So, thanks again.

I'm glad it worked out. I really appreciate the "eyes" on this forum in catching what I would have missed... I always get an education from this forum.

Wow!!! What a great catch...you are the MAN!!

__________________
Bob.
SWCA 1821

Really sorry that the gun went sideways... says alot for the seller that the deal didn't go sideways too.

25-2's are fine revolvers. It's just that folks just couldn't stop messing with in the 80's... Maybe you should find another one.

Good Luck!

Drew

I'm glad we have such knowledgeable people here, as I would have been fooled by that gun too. It's a shame, because it was beautiful.

Hi
for all of you guys. Here is the real story about 1955 in 45 colt.
Yes Smith & Wesson did make a few in 45 colt. the ones that were made will say 45 colt on the barrel we have only seen 2 or 3 that letter as factory 45 colts.
I hope this clears up the issue. If you read the thread on this fourm about the Skeeter Skelton Gun it is one of the real 45 colts it has a 4 inch barrel and was made in 1963
on special order for Skeeter Skelton and it is in my collection. It was made up with parts from the the 1950 Model that were left over. There were 200 made in 45 Colt in the 1950 model in 6 1/2 inch barrel.
Jim Fisher

Jim Fisher

Do the factory 25-2s in 45 Colt have the long or short cylinder?

Hi
All 45 colts before the 25-5 have the short cylinder.
But it is not the same length as the 45 ACP Cylinder the length is 1.67.
Jim

It makes sense that a pre 25-5 would have to have a longer cylinder, to correct the headspace normally taken up by the moon clips or the thick rim of the 45AutoRim cartidge.
Thanks for sharing. It will save many of us from being taken in.

Glad I saw this thread.
I just picked up a 25-2 with the .45 acp cylinder reamed out for .45 Colt.

no doubt, no mistake, short cylinder, 1.530

I got lucky and found a professionally cut down 4" 25-2 for cheep. I took off the rubber tires put reproduction grips on it and now its my favorite shooter ! Glad I didn't have to make the choice of cutting it down myself.

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